Our solutions
Investment Funds
© Charles Tanning
Support for private equity investment
PROPARCO invests directly or on behalf of FISEA (AFD Group’s facility advised by PROPARCO) in private equity funds and venture capital (VC) funds that support SMEs and start-ups with strong development impacts.
Our network is composed of over 20 funds targeting SMEs and start-ups in Africa and covers a wide range of sectors and countries. Our partners’ local base and expertise provide real added value in effectively supporting companies at all stages of their development.
Key figures
EUR 1bn of equity
committed to invest in SMEs by 2022See and/or download documents
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Our financing solutions
Venture capital funds
- AFD Group, via PROPARCO and FISEA, invests in venture capital funds that support the emerging scene of start-ups in Africa. The size of our commitments for venture capital funds ranges between approximately $3 million and $7 million.
- PROPARCO and FISEA support funds that invest in all stages – from seed/pre-seed rounds to more advanced C series rounds – and seek to support funds investing in start-ups that provide innovative solutions to facilitate access to essential goods and services.
- We prioritize teams with a proven track record of investing in start-ups which demonstrate their ability to provide support and expertise to their portfolio companies. The venture capital funds that PROPARCO invests in generally deploy initial ticket sizes ranging between $0.5 million and $5 million.
- AFD Group, via PROPARCO and FISEA, also has a direct equity investing capacity and carefully considers co-investment opportunities with its partner venture capital funds.
Development Capital funds
- PROPARCO invests in investment funds targeting SMEs throughout Africa. The size of our commitments in these funds ranges between $3 million and $20 million. For funds targeting frontier countries, FISEA will be able to invest in junior tranches in addition to senior tranches.
- PROPARCO and FISEA support funds that operate in a wide range of economic sectors, including manufacturing and service industries, and specifically focus on sectors with strong social impacts (such as agriculture, health and education) and businesses with strong potential for job creation.
- We prioritize investment strategies that dedicate a large proportion to development capital (via equity and quasi-equity instruments) and have a strong focus on the creation of operational value. The capital development funds that PROPARCO invests in generally deploy tickets ranging between $1 million and $20 million.
- For larger transactions, PROPARCO and FISEA also have a direct investment capacity and carefully consider co-investment opportunities with their partner fund managers.
ARIZ Equity Guarantee
- AFD offers an ARIZ guarantee to investment funds that finance Social Businesses. It covers up to 50% of their equity or quasi-equity investments in these companies.
Our support and advisory solutions
Technical and strategic assistance
Capacity building and advisory services
- Alongside its financial tools, PROPARCO or FISEA can delegate a technical assistance (TA) budget to their client investment funds. The investment funds can then provide their investee companies with support to improve their performance in various areas (management, HR, finance, marketing) and strengthen their environmental and social impact (implementation of control systems and E&S plans).
- FISEA’s TA can also be deployed to help build the expertise of the management teams of its partner funds on the issues of impacts and accountability. The focus will be on the issues of managing Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risks, gender equality, the fight against climate change and impact measurement.